Maddox v. City of Los Angeles

• Decision Date: 26 June 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-5828,85-5828
• Citation: 792 F.2d 1408
• Parties: 21 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 20 Freddie MADDOX, as Administratrix of the Estate of Donald Roy Wilson, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The CITY OF LOS ANGELES, a municipal corporation, Roger M. Lewis, Evangelyn N. Nathan, Robert S. Arzuman, Timothy C. Harris, R.J. Broussard, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 1408

792 F.2d 1408

21 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 20

Freddie MADDOX, as Administratrix of the Estate of Donald Roy Wilson, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The CITY OF LOS ANGELES, a municipal corporation, Roger M Lewis, Evangelyn N. Nathan, Robert S. Arzuman Timothy C. Harris, R.J. Broussard Defendants-Appellees.

No. 85-5828.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Feb. 6, 1986.

Decided June 26, 1986.

Michael R. Mitchell, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant.

Dick Helgeson, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Before KENNEDY, SKOPIL and ALARCON, Circuit Judges.

SKOPIL, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff-appellant Freddie Maddox ("Maddox"), on behalf of the estate of Donald Roy Wilson, brought a cause of action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. Maddox alleged the City of Los Angeles ("City") and various police officers violated the decedent's fourteenth amendment right not to be deprived of life without due process of law. Maddox also alleged two state claims; one based on negligence for wrongful death, and the other for assault and battery.

Maddox raises numerous issues on appeal. She claims the district court erred in instructing the jury (1) to consider the police officers' motivation when determining plaintiff's alleged due process violation; (2) that the standard of care for failure to provide medical care is deliberate indifference; and (3) that the police officers' failure to administer cardial pulmonary resuscitation ("CPR") is not a violation of the decedent's due process rights. Maddox also claims the district court erred in failing to instruct the jury that the police officers' violations of (1) Cal.Gov.Code Sec. 845.6; and (2) Los Angeles Police Commission's moratorium on choke hold use are negligence per se. Further, Maddox claims the court erred in failing to instruct the jury that the decedent's pre-existing physical condition is not a proximate cause of death. Finally, Maddox claims the district court erred in excluding defendant's admission during a Police Department disciplinary proceeding that he violated the City policy by using the choke hold. Appellees claim that the appellant did not timely object to the issues raised on appeal.

We hold that, although Maddox timely objected to all the issues raised on appeal, none of the objections raised were meritorious. Therefore, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

On July 31, 1982 the decedent Wilson was seen standing naked in the middle of a busy street by Officers Lewis and Nathan. The officers believed Wilson had taken Phencyclidine ("PCP"). When they attempted to take Wilson into custody, an altercation ensued. Wilson was finally handcuffed and placed on the floorboard of the rear seat of a police car by two other officers, Officers Arzuman and Harris. Arzuman and Harris then drove to a nearby hospital. En route to the hospital, Wilson became belligerent in the rear of the car. The officers stopped on the freeway to reposition Wilson and secure him in the rear seat. At this time, Wilson forced Officer Harris against a guardrail which overlooked a steep freeway embankment. Officer Harris feared that Wilson might push him over the guardrail and so applied a choke hold for twenty to thirty seconds. Wilson was subdued and secured in the rear of the police car.

Wilson was still for the remainder of the ride to the hospital. Officer Harris could detect Wilson's pulse while in the car. When they reached the hospital, however, Officer Harris had difficulty finding a pulse. The officers escorting Wilson to the hospital were trained to use CPR, but did not do so. Instead, Wilson was taken to the jail ward on the thirteenth floor of the hospital. There, the medical staff commenced CPR on Wilson. Wilson did not respond and was pronounced dead later that morning. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner ascribed death to "sudden death associated with blunt force injury to the neck, mild cardial fibrosis and scarring." Wilson also suffered from sickle cell anemia and damage to many internal organs.

Officer Harris was trained to use the choke hold at the Los Angeles Police Academy. Officers were taught to use the choke hold on a violent suspect who could possibly endanger himself or others. In May 1982, two months prior to the incident herein, the Los Angeles Police Commission imposed a moratorium on the use of the choke hold unless deadly force was called for. Officer Harris was never personally informed of the moratorium on the use of A nine-day jury trial commenced on February 5, 1985. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the defendants, finding that none of the defendants had deprived Wilson of his life without due process of law, and that none of the defendants were negligent. Maddox filed a motion for new trial on March 11, 1985 which was denied. Maddox appeals.

the choke hold. Notice of the moratorium was read at a police roll call, but Officer Harris was not present.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

When reviewing a claim of error relating to jury instructions, the court must give consideration to the entire charge as a whole to determine whether the instruction is misleading or incorrectly states the law to the prejudice of the objecting party. Coursen v. A.H. Robbins, 764 F.2d 1329, 1337 (9th Cir.), amended, 773 F.2d 1049 (1985); Smiddy v. Varney, 665 F.2d 261, 265 (9th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 829, 103 S.Ct. 65, 74 L.Ed.2d 66 (1982). See also United States v. Marabelles, 724 F.2d 1374, 1382-83 (9th Cir.1984) (standard of review claimed in a criminal charge); Van Cleef v. Aeroflex Corp., 657 F.2d 1094, 1098-99 (9th Cir.1981) (failure to give a requested instruction is not reversible error so long as the trial judge gives adequate instructions on each element of the case).

Trial court rulings on the admissibility of evidence are reviewed for abuse of discretion. M.A.P. Oil Co., Inc. v. Texaco, Inc., 691 F.2d 1303, 1310 (9th Cir.1982). A reviewing court will not reverse for an abuse of discretion unless it has a definite and firm conviction that the court below committed an error. See Potlatch Corp. v. United States, 679 F.2d 153, 157 (9th Cir.1982).

DISCUSSION

A. Timeliness of Objections.

The City asserts that Maddox failed to timely object to the instruction on the standard to provide medical care, the proposed instruction on negligence per se, the proposed instruction incorporated in the special verdict on proximate cause of death, and the exclusion of evidence regarding a police disciplinary proceeding.

The jury was instructed over a two-day period with the bulk of instructions read on the first day, followed by counsels' closing argument and the final jury instructions on the second day. Maddox did not object to some of the instructions until the second day, but before the jury was given its final instructions. Fed.R.Civ.P. 51 states that, "... no party may assign as error the giving or the failure to give an instruction unless he objects thereto before the jury retires to consider its verdict, stating distinctly the matter to which he objects and the grounds of his objection."

Maddox's counsel timely objected to the court's instruction that the standard of care for failure to provide medical assistance was deliberate indifference, stating his belief that the appropriate standard was negligence. Although his objection was raised after the first day of jury instructions, it is timely under Fed.R.Civ.P. 51 because it was raised before the jury retired to consider its verdict.

Maddox timely requested a negligence per se instruction based upon Cal.Gov.Code Sec. 845.6. Although Maddox's counsel initially failed to include an instruction based on Cal.Gov.Code Sec. 845.6 in his proposed instructions, the issue was brought to the court's attention before any jury instructions were read. Before the jury retired to consider its verdict, Maddox's counsel also proposed a revised jury instruction which incorporated the negligence per se instruction.

Maddox's counsel also made clear to the court at a side bar discussion that Officer Harris' admission to violating City policy with respect to the moratorium on the use of choke holds was relevant and probative as to defendant Harris. Maddox's counsel objected to the exclusion of this evidence. He made the substance of the evidence and his theory of admissibility apparent to the district court. Therefore the exclusion of the evidence is reviewable on appeal. See Coursen, 764 F.2d at 1333; Fed.R.Evid. Sec. 103(a)(2).

Finally, Maddox's counsel timely objected to the failure to give an instruction on proximate cause and the "thin-skulled plaintiff." Maddox's counsel requested an instruction or special verdict inquiry on this matter before any jury instructions were read and before the special verdict was submitted to the jury. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 49(a) ("If ... the court omits any issue of fact raised by the pleadings or by the evidence, each party waives his right to a trial by jury of the issue so omitted unless before the jury retires he demands its submission to the jury"). This objection was timely.

B. Merits of Objections.

1. State of Mind Instruction

Maddox claims the jury was erroneously instructed to consider the defendant's "state of mind" in determining if the defendants violated the decedent's fourteenth amendment due process rights. Specifically, the court instructed the jury that

In determining whether the police officers crossed the constitutional line and violated the plaintiff's civil rights by using or not using as the case may be unreasonable force, you, in applying your judgment, should consider among other factors the amount of force used in relationship to the apparent need presented, the extent of the injury intended to be actually inflicted, and whether the motive of the officer was to exact punishment rather than arrest the defendant for trial.

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